The Return
by StickminKinnie
Summary: Sequel to The Fallen. Right after the events of The Fallen, Gumball makes a grand return...not before he was found dead though.
1. Your second chance

A blurry haze greeted someone as they woke.

"Ugh..what the what?" They groaned. That someone blinked. Their eyes slowly adjusted to the light. They looked around. The whole place looked like the void.

Except that it was completely empty.

"It's not your time yet Gumball." A voice that sounded like it came from everywhere stated. "But I know you have questions, so I'll give you some time before I send you back."

"Uh! I.."Gumball sputtered. He seemed to have lost his voice temporarily. "Take your time. We got all the time in the world." The voice assured.

_Back in Elmore_

It had been nearly 5 days since Gumball disappeared. However, it felt like five weeks to the Wattersons.

The family sat quietly at the table as they ate dinner. Well, only Richard ate, but it was for comfort. They awaited the call from the police, hoping that they found any sign of the blue cat.

The tense atmosphere was so thick that you could cut right through it like jello. This time, it wasn't literal though.

The room was eerily quiet other than Richard's chewing mouth. So it was no surprise that everyone jumped when they heard the ringing.

Nicole rushed to the phone.

"Hello?" she answered, her voice pitchy from not talking that much. There was a pause as faint murmuring was heard from the phone. The blue feline gasped. "Really? H-" She cut herself off as the murmuring continued. When the sound stopped, tears started to form in Nicole's eyes and a sharp sob escaped her mouth.

Her hand released their tight grip on the phone as tears streamed down the female blue cat's cheeks. "No..no he can't be.."

" ?" Darwin asked, "What's wrong?". It was a pointless question, for Darwin already knew. Nicole's sobs confirmed his suspicion. The fish then joined his adopted mother in grieving. Then followed the two pink bunnies. Richard wailed, hands on face.

What the police told Nicole?

They found the blue cat's body, but he wasn't alive.

For an hour, the Wattersons cried in sorrowful unison, mourning for Gumball Watterson, a son, a friend, a partner in crime, and an older brother.

_With Gumball and the mysterious voice_

"Did you say you were going to send me back?" Gumball finally asked. "Yes. Think of it as...your second chance." The voice calmly replied. "But why must I go back? Everything would be better if I stayed dead…" Gumball demanded. "You only think that because of the poor treatment you got from your friends and your girlfriend."

That sent Gumball into a blur of flashbacks. From Tobias pissing him off, Penny trying to calm him down, Banana Joe and Alan trying to cheer him up, the talk with Bobert, the other talk with Miss Simian and Principal Brown, and most of all, Darwin checking up on him.

Gumball blinked, ending his flashbacks. He was silent for a moment. Suddenly, he said, "They weren't treating me poorly. I was the one who lost my temper." His voice got louder by each sentence. "I deserved that treatment! I had gotten pissed over a small insult when I should of brushed it off! What are you to say that I only think that because of the treatment I got from my friends and Penny?!"

At first there was no response. The blue cat waited and waited. The whole area was still, with not even a breeze there to give it motion.

Gumball frowned to the point where he felt guilty for snapping. His eyebrows pressed in worry as he took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Sorry. I kinda lost it again." Gumball apologized, shame visible in his tone. "It's alright. I paused just to let you calm down. So..do you have anymore questions, or are you ready to return to the living?" The voice replied.

"Mm...I think this question is more of a favor to ask of you, so is that okay?" Gumball asked. "I suppose so. What is this favor you wish to ask?" The voice responded. "Can I see what has been happening during my time here?" Gumball questioned. "Okay. I believe this will give you more reason to return."

Everything zoomed away from Gumball's sight as the blue cat appeared back at the Watterson living room.

"Hey, what about my favor-huh?" Gumball paused. In front of him was his family, a crying mess. They didn't seem to notice as he approached them. Gumball's eyes showed nothing but worry as he looked at them. Their eyes were red from crying hard. The waterworks were still coming though.

An orange fish was sobbing the hardest, inaudibly choking out, "I'm sorry Gumball…". "Hey, dude, it's alright." Gumball told him. But it was in vain, as nobody could hear him.

Once again, the scene zoomed out. Now Gumball was standing in the Fitzgerald household. Penny's home. Penny's parents were arguing, but Penny wasn't present. Gumball went off looking for her, leaving the two Fitzgerald parents behind.

Penny was in her room. Even though it was locked, Gumball went right through it. What he saw was a sight he would never erase from his memory.

The fairy was crying, although she of course wasn't in her yellow normal form. Penny had turned into a small white version of herself and had bloodshot eyes. She had obviously been crying, but all her tears had dried out. His girlfriend rocked herself back and forth trying to comfort herself but failing.

Gumball wished to stay with Penny a little longer, but was unable to as he was thrown into another scene.

Miss Simian was teaching the class as usual. But the mood was off. Most of the class had bags under their eyes, as if they didn't get enough sleep. Not just that, their eyes were red. They seemed to have been up all night crying over the death of Gumball.

All of this overwhelmed Gumball and he shook his head to ease the pressure.

"Alright enough!"

And it all zoomed out. Now he was back. All alone in the bright empty place. Gumball sighed.

"Well, that's all you wanted of me right?" The voice asked. "Yeah. Take me back." Gumball replied. "Alright. Make the most of that second chance, Gumball."

On that note, the area glowed brighter than ever. Gumball covered his closed eyes with one arm.


	2. Coming back

Gumball blinked and found that he was under water. This time though, he was going to live. His eyes hardened with determination and he kicked. Closer and closer to the surface he came with each kick.

_Gotta keep going!_ Gumball thought. His only thought was getting to shore.

Finally, he surfaced. He inhaled and shook his head, looking at the sky. It was night. He blinked. _Is it the same day?_ He wondered.

Gumball swam and swam until he reached shore. He gasped as he climbed onto the sand. Shivering, he slowly stood up. He rubbed his hands against his shoulders in an attempt to get at least a bit warmer.

When he regained a bit of body heat, he decided that he better hurry to town. "I'm not gonna get anywhere standing here." He told himself as he walked back to Elmore.

When he was about to arrive officially into the town, he noticed that a lot of lights were on.

"Great. Now how am I supposed to sneak back?" Gumball frowned. He then realized this might be the current day. "..Oh crap."

Gumball hung his head. He wasn't supposed to be here then! What was he gonna do when he was found?

The blue cat huffed and kicked a rock in frustration.

..But it wasn't a rock he kicked.

"Ow!" complained a familiar voice.

Gumball gasped. What was he gonna do now?

Banana Joe rubbed the brown bruise on the side of his head. He shrugged, seeming to have gotten over the pain. The fruit walked away, forgetting about the kick.

The cat sighed in relief. At least he wasn't caught.

_For now._ He bitterly thought. Gumball didn't know how long could he stay hidden. Sooner or later he was gonna be found and would be bombarded with questions he had answers to but just didn't want to admit anything.

Once again, the chill came back. This time it wasn't from his dripping sweater though.

Gumball sneaked his way back to the Watterson household, making sure to stay in the shadows.

He reached the household and peeked through the window. The lights were all off. _Must be asleep._ Gumball thought. _Wait, should I go inside?_

Gumball paused. He didn't know how bad could the consequences be if he entered. For all he knew, he could hit the lamp accidently and wake up the whole town!

The blue cat's ears went down as he thought of what questions he'd have to answer.

_Should of stayed dead…_

.

.

.

"No." Gumball whispered. The strange being's voice echoed in his mind. _Second chance...second chance.._

_Second chance._

You have to make the most of your second chance.

Gumball's eyes lit up with a bright flame of determination. _Yeah, gotta make the most of it._

The blue cat decided to hide behind the fence. Nobody was gonna go out back right? Tomorrow would be Thursday, so Mom would be working of course, Dad would stay inside, and his siblings were going to school.

_Hm, maybe I can sneak some food before I join Darwin and Anais._ Gumball thought. Even though he wasn't hungry, he was pretty sure he would be soon.

Gumball climbed over the tan fence and softly landed on his feet on the grass. Seeing that it was still night, he figured that he could lower his guard for now. The blue cat allowed his fur to lay flat and sat down.

_Man, all that wore me out._ He thought. He finally noted that his eyes felt a bit droopy and that his body was so weak that it could collapse at anytime. _I guess it wouldn't hurt to close my eyes for a bit._

Everything faded away as Gumball gave way to tiredness.

The blue cat wasn't sure, but he thought he must have dozed off at sometime since he was woken up by the light shining on his face. Sleepily, he blinked, momentarily wondering where he was. Then everything came to him like a bucket of ice cold water.

"Right." He mumbled, rubbing the sleepiness off. Slowly, he got to his feet.

He heard voices on the other side of the fence. His eyes perked up and he crouched.

"Have a good day at school kids." Nicole chirped, though there was no emotion in her tone of voice. "Yeah..thanks ." Darwin responded so monotonously that Gumball nearly didn't recognize the voice. Anais and Richard stayed silent as they parted.

The school bus sputtered and went on it's way.

Footsteps were heard and then faded away, though Gumball knew it was because they had entered the house.

Moments later, the door opened once again. "I'm off to work now…" Nicole stated. The sound of opening a door was heard, then came the sound of it getting shut. "Bye Richard.."

Vroom…

Gumball's eyes brows pressed in worry. The family wasn't doing so good ever since he died by the sound of it. He hated the way they sounded so...dead. Heck, they were even more dead than he was.

Gumball shook his head. _Can't waste time._ He mentally scolded himself. _I need to get them to know that I'm alive._

The blue cat moved out of his hiding place and checked the kitchen window. Thankfully, it was open.

Gumball carefully slid through the opening as to make sure he didn't give himself away. Then he sneaked some breakfast from the Daisy Flakes box. _Well whaddya know, these taste a bit more sugary without milk._

He checked up on his dad behind the wall and his eyes widened with shock. Dang, his dad looked more horrible in person! Richard had black bags under his eyes and his light pink color was rather dull. His eyes were still red from sobbing a lot and his posture was just like Gumball when he was depressed.

Gumball quickly looked away. _Yup, DEFINITELY need to reveal myself as alive._

The cat leaped out of the still open window and back into the backyard. Carefully, he jumped over the fence and made his way towards the Elmore Junior High. The bus had long reached the school, and class had already started by this time.

As he rushed over to the doors, Gumball muttered to himself, "Now how do you reveal yourself when everyone else thinks you're dead?"


	3. Update

I've been busy on Commaful. Not going on here as much. Sorry.


End file.
